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LGBI Airport to be upgraded

By Staff Reporter

GUWAHATI, April 5 - The terminal at Lokpriya Gopinath Bordoloi International Airport will be upgraded and its capacity raised from the existing 2,000 passengers to 6,000.

Informing this here today, Transport Minister Chandra Mohan Patowary said the Central Government would fund Rs 1,000 crore for the upgrade of the airport. �The LGBI Airport is international just in name. Only one international flight from Bhutan operates from it. We want to make the airport international in the true sense,� he said.

He said the Civil Aviation ministry would also provide a plot of land adjacent to the airport to the State government for setting up a warehouse which will help avail the flight cargo facilities.

Addressing a press meet here after the conclusion of the Namami Brahmaputra Festival, Patowary said once the Brahmaputra river is dredged, Assam �will be the hub of trade and investment.�

�A tripartite MoU between Assam government, IWAI and NHAI for dredging the river was signed yesterday. We have already surveyed some 300 km length of the river for construction of the proposed expressway along the banks using the silt that will be dug out of the river,� he said.

A total of 841 km of the river from Dhubri to Sadiya will be dredged. The length of the expressway will be around 1,300 km and it would cost over Rs 40,000 crore.

Facing criticism for holding the river festival during a time when there are rains in Assam, the minister claimed that the government had consulted the meteorology department.

�There was no prediction of rainfall during the event days. The sudden rains were a result of a depression in Bangladesh. Moreover, for such a big event, we had to make the preparations four to five months ahead and it is not possible to make any changes at the last minute. Anyway, we will take precaution from next time,� he added.

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